The present invention relates to an apparatus for creating data for commanding the operation of an object machine.
Since machines in general such as machine tools having computers, e.g. NC machine tools which are controlled by programs based on specific numerical data, have been developed and sophisticated, the operability thereof has been remarkably improved. This trend of automatic control has also remarkably advanced in the field of measuring machines, which measure various data.
The automatic machine operations, which are controlled by computers using programs which contain numeric values, are very suitable for producing or measuring a large number of substances with a small number of types, thereby providing high efficiency for this purpose.
However, these automatic operations are not suitable for producing a small number of substances with a large number of types, resulting in low efficiency.
This is because data commanding change of the operation of each machine which produces or measures a substance which should be created depend on the change of the substance. In other words, to change data for commanding operations with the conventional technologies, CAD data of an original drawing must be changed, and, since all of the steps of creating command data are required, this results in a long work time and serious risk.
In the conventional apparatus, since CAD data of original drawings are directly converted into operation data, changes of operation data result in changes of the CAD data of the original drawings or changes of the programs per se which convert CAD data into operation data.
If the CAD data of the original drawings were changed, it would become very difficult to know what was the initial CAD data, how the initial CAD data was changed, and which is the changed data.
In addition, if the CAD data of the original drawings were changed, the risk of erasing the initial CAD data would become high. Thus, it is stated that direct changes of the initial CAD data should be avoided.
Moreover, from the view point of efficiency, changes of programs which convert CAD data into operation data are very difficult.
In other words, with conventional apparatus, if the CAD data of the original drawings is data of a circle, then the original CAD data accords with the operation data of programs such as "measure the diameter of the circle" or "make a round hole by using the drill." Changing the operation data into such operation data as "measure the circumference of a particular circle" or "make a square hole" from the programs above requires changes of the entire programs.
Operation data, e.g., "turn on the light" or "supply oil" which do not accord with the CAD data of the original drawings may be made to accord with CAD data of original drawings depending on programs. Thus, when operation data such as "designating a lamp to be turned on when a hole with a diameter of 10 mm is measured" or "designating the amount of oil to be supplied when a hole with a diameter of 10 mm is made" is changed, the program itself must be changed. Thus, the above described very troublesome work is required.
To solve such problems, the inventors of the present invention have invented an apparatus which is referred to in as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/053,768 filed on Apr. 27, 1993. In this apparatus, operation command data is created with which common machines of a group are operated. The operation command data is stored in a data file. The operation data is changed corresponding to the format of a particular machine and thereby operation data for operating the particular machine is created. Thus, with the operation data, the particular machine is operated.